


old times

by djsubatomicshugeboobs (awkwardcarmine)



Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Childhood, Childhood Memories, Cleaning, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, House Cleaning, M/M, Nostalgia, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, headcanons, i hc j as korean and that he had a really nice family ok i dont do angst, its implied but yes they are both trans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26609686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awkwardcarmine/pseuds/djsubatomicshugeboobs
Summary: neon j needs to clean out his closet of boxes, and who better to help him than his boyfriend?
Relationships: Neon J./DJ Subatomic Supernova
Comments: 5
Kudos: 126





	old times

yet another year, yet another yearly cleaning. neon j's garage/workspace/office/something had been getting cluttered as of late, so this was probably the best time to sit down and go through some of the old junk in the boxes he had stacked up. it was a long and, frankly, boring task, so he had called up his boyfriend to accompany him in his endeavours. the dj had arrived promptly, loudly calling out hellos to 1010 and made his way to the familiar workspace. the neon signs that his boyfriend had put up buzzed in delight as he walked in, seeing the cyborg himself amongst piles and piles of boxes.

he had one open, labeled “prototypes,” and was pulling small doll-like objects out. there were a few surrounding him already, so supernova decided to take a seat and inspect some of them. some were strikingly similar to 1010, the color coding and funky hairstyles looking nearly the same. others… not so much. they were still human-like, but a lot more simplistic and rustic in style. it was quite charming, honestly. he rolled the figures over in his hands, absorbing all of the little details, especially the small motifs and carvings that were obviously done by hand. 

neon hadn’t said much of anything yet, completely absorbed at the task in-hand and not paying much attention to what the dj was doing with his figures. the cyborg pulled out another one, only to have it covered by supernova’s much larger hand.

“hello, dear,” spoke the taller man, taking the figure from neon’s grasp and finally making him acknowledge his presence.

“oh, hello! my apologies, i didn’t even hear you come in. i hope you hadn’t been sitting here long; i know i get caught up in things like this often.” the cyborg’s hand was gently grasped by supernova’s, holding it while he talked.

the dj looked down at the newest figure, seeing to be one of the older models, “it’s no problem, i had only just gotten here. i like the figures you’ve made, even if they are prototypes. you have such a creative mind.” 

“why, thank you supernova. it means a lot coming from you.” the radar blips on j’s head rapidly blinked, indicating that he was flustered. it brought a fuzzy feeling to the other man’s chest.

the two went back to their comfortable silence, going through the last of the prototype dolls and then placing them back in their safe places. neon j had decided to only toss one or two of them that had deteriorated or had gotten attacked by termites. a shame, but there was no need to keep them after they had been destroyed. a few more boxes were sifted through, more blueprints and sketches. there was even a hand-binded book on the internals of 1010s’ bodies, detailing everything down to the smallest wire connection. it looked like an interesting read, so supernova quietly set it aside to read later.

the next box was labeled “childhood,” which intrigued supernova quite a bit. none of the megastars really talked about their past, nor childhood for that matter. it wasn’t taboo to say, only a thing that never got brought up. the past wasn’t something that everyone liked, and so there was a subconscious agreement to not talk about it amongst the musicians. the dj could see the apprehension in j’s actions as he dragged the box towards him. it hurt a bit to see what could be seen as a clear sign of distrust, but supernova knew that not everyone liked to talk about their past.

with a robotic sigh, neon j opened the box. right on top, staring right back at him, was an absolutely ridiculous baby picture his mother had took of him after he had been dressed up for some sort of holiday he didn’t celebrate anymore. the child’s innocent smile and bright eyes were familiar, but also so, so foreign. it took a moment, to work through his own emotions, but he soon fondly looked upon it. the previous contempt melted away to allow him to fully indulge in the nostalgia of it all. 

despite the name of the holiday escaping his mind, he could remember all of the fun he had with his family. his grandparents already lived with him, so it was a time when he could see the rest of his extended family. his cousins, aunts, uncles. everyone came together and ate and laughed and cheered. the carrying on and partying -- which was mostly the kids wrestling with each other -- lasted until the wee hours of the morning, forcing his relatives to stay for the night. it was crowded when that happened, but he didn’t mind. he wondered how they were doing.

the photo was placed down, allowing for supernova to take a peek. j found out that he didn’t mind, it actually made him… quite happy to see the other man look at the photo with a fond glow to him. hopefully he would like the other childhood trinkets that were in store, starting with the photo album his mother so gracefully kept. the book was covered with genuine leather on the outside, a groove on each cover to show were those before him had placed their thumbs to flip through the thing. supernova scooted closer, placing his orb right next to neon j’s head. 

the cyborg took a moment to look at him and give him a quick “kiss,” which was just gently tapping their heads together. the dj’s orb flushed pink for a quick moment, causing j to laugh out loud. the two giggled at each other and rearranged themselves, with neon j sitting on supernova’s lap so that both of them could get a good look at the photos ahead of them. neon decided to skip past the baby photos, considering them to be old news. 

he had ended up to pictures of when he was a toddler, a small spunky thing that clearly started walking well before the other kids. there were many photos of him running around his house, obviously taken by a parent who was struggling to catch up with him. supernova asked him if he had ever considered joining track with speed like that, and his boyfriend only replied with a muffled snort. he wasn’t  _ quite _ amused, but he would be lying if he didn’t consider doing that once he joined high school. the idea of getting back into running gnawed at him occasionally, but he knew that his robotic joints couldn’t handle that type of strain. curse these newfangled parts.

the two continued leafing through the photo album, finally coming to neon j’s schooling days. an enlarged class photo was shown, with “bora girls’ middle school” scribbled below it in korean. he looked back at supernova, expecting some weird comment or something similar, but only got a questioning look instead.

“can you point yourself out? i can’t seem to find you for the life of me,” the dj asked, allowing his gaze to be guided.

neon j pointed at… himself. a young child with short, choppy bangs and a bob haircut. they were sporting a typical school uniform, the sleeves just a little too big and covering their hands down to their knuckles. they stared at the camera shyly, only smiling the littlest bit. there was a bit of shock at seeing himself looking like that again, but it was inevitable when going through his photo album. he was just glad that supernova didn’t say anything. the two continued looking, neon j explaining what school was like in korea for him.

turns out, it was way different than from what supernova grew up with. the two shared their schoolday stories with each other, from the good parts to the bad. supernova revealed he had actually been a part of a few different sports during his schooling, which made sense considering the body type he had. even if he wasn’t as athletic as he once was, the dj assured his boyfriend that he could still dunk a few hoops like a pro. j doubted his claims. 

after the couple had gone through the box, which was conveniently the last one, the two organized the workspace again. a few toolboxes got put back, the boxes were stacked in a closet to be stored. the two finally recollected themselves out in the kitchen, despite not being hungry nor being able to consume normal food. 

“so… did you enjoy that little insight into who i was before all of this?” neon j awkwardly motioned towards himself, a tad self conscious at finally being that vulnerable with his past with someone.

“i did. i was surprised, but i was glad to learn more about you. i’ll have to invite you over sometime to help  _ me _ clean. you’d get a kick out of the uniforms i still have saved from my time at my high school, the skirt length was atrocious.” supernova circled around the table to where neon j was standing, bringing the man into his arms.

the two swayed quietly, holding onto each other quietly. neon j’s anxieties had melted away, leaving only more newfound respect and love for the man holding him. he knew he got lucky, and he was thankful for whatever karma had placed him into the hands of supernova. 

**Author's Note:**

> SCREAMS ok i needed to write more of these two im sorry for taking so long to do so jfdkls;afj.
> 
> anyway yeah i hc them both as trans (j more... idk. nb masc? if anything but still) and you will have to pry that hc out of my old dead hands... transgenderfication beam locked target on both of these fools.
> 
> main song i listened to on repeat for this was trixie mattel's cover of video games, please check it out it made me more gay...
> 
> HENNYWAYS... thank you for reading... like comment and subscribe for more gay old people!!


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